Bankruptcy Mastery

Becoming a better bankruptcy lawyer

Convert, Don’t Dismiss, That Bankruptcy Case

By Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

Young lawyers just learning bankruptcy practice seem to have missed the portions of the Bankruptcy Code that allow a debtor to convert a case under one chapter of the Code to a case under a different chapter.  All too often, when it looks like the client is in the wrong chapter, they propose to dismiss and refile under the new chapter. Not necessary.  The Code provides, in sections 706, … [Continue reading...]

Bankruptcy Cases Not Predictably Simple

By Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice, Start Here

I've been aghast at the willingness of lawyers brand new to bankruptcy practice to take on cases and issues far beyond their current competence.  I've tried to gently counsel that  both self preservation and the client's best interest require the inexperienced to pass on cases beyond their present skill set. I realized just how glib  and unrealistic that advice could be yesterday when a young … [Continue reading...]

Surrendering Property in Bankruptcy

By Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice, Real property

Apart from Selling your home in a stress-free manner, many things are revolving around properties that you need to know. Your client's statement that he is surrendering property in his bankruptcy case is nothing more than a statement of future intentions.  Intentions can be changed, and action is required to actualize that intention. An intention does not serve to transfer the property … [Continue reading...]

New Bankruptcy Lawyers, Google On

By Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

Lawyers setting up a new bankruptcy practice often want to know which of the legal research giants they should use.  Doing my research this morning for a presentation on the means test I'm giving to other lawyers, I needed case authority on whether taxes were a consumer debt for purposes of Section 707(b). My search on Lexis came up empty.  Yet I've understood for years that taxes are not … [Continue reading...]

Beyond The Client’s Preconceptions

By Filed Under: Before filing

The clients were in my office considering bankruptcy because of nasty litigation approaching trial.  While they would undoubtedly win, the expense was enormous.  Even victory in court would ruin them. As we talked about their financial situation and their eligibility for bankruptcy, it came out that there were two liens on their house . On their numbers, perhaps the second lien … [Continue reading...]

Attorney as added-value at 341 meeting

By Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

The lawyer's presence at the 341 meeting often seems superfluous. A good 341 meeting is when the only words I utter are to enter my appearance for my client.  My role is usually to remind the debtor to keep breathing and to tease them about their worries over the meeting afterward. Yet two incidents  yesterday reminded me why I'm there.  I am not a potted plant: I'm the … [Continue reading...]

Struggling with “adequate protection”

By Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

The bankruptcy code seems strangely inarticulate about adequate protection:  what are we protecting and how do we measure "adequacy"? It's not a term defined in §101.  My class of new bankruptcy lawyers kept coming back to questions about adequate protection. The Code offers a roundabout explanation in § 361.  We are protecting 1) creditors with an interest in property (a ha, the secureds!) … [Continue reading...]

Notice Key to Bankruptcy Success

By Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

Who should I give notice to, the young bankruptcy lawyer asked, the creditor who had limited legal capacity or the creditor's conservator? One of the basic themes of bankruptcy is that it works on notice. Those who get notice of the case are bound by its outcome. The bankruptcy forms allow the debtor to characterize a listed creditor has holding a contingent claim, an unliquidated claim, a … [Continue reading...]

Fine Time to be a New Bankruptcy Lawyer

By Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

new lawyer

The internet has transformed the learning curve for lawyers new to bankruptcy.  Bankruptcy is a specialty and one problem in honing your skills was historically finding other specialists with whom to trade stories and ask questions. I was exceedingly lucky that I had an office right out of law school next to an experienced bankruptcy lawyer who was willing, endlessly it probably seemed to him, … [Continue reading...]